Ocean Avenue
by Stephane Richer
Summary: Let your waves crash down on me and take me away


Ocean Avenue

Disclaimer: I don't own Tatadoshi Fujimaki's _Kuroko no Basuke_ or Yellowcard's "Ocean Avenue".

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Kise loves summer.

He loves the influx of available seafood, how cheap it gets, loves deep-frying soft shell crabs and grilling tuna steaks in the outdoors. The weather is perfect for it, too, perhaps because summer reminds him of trips to the beach as a child, attempts at fishing (he was never, ever patient enough and wandered away from his father and sisters to build sandcastles) and sitting on the wooden decks of rented beach houses with sand in his hair and between his toes and salt in the air.

He loves being able to walk around in shorts and a tank top, playing basketball outside in just shorts and not having to worry about getting cold later or his sweat freezing or anything like that, just him and the opponent and the basketball, sweat evaporating from his skin but clinging to his hair, ruining his oh-so-carefully-planned look. Because sometimes looks don't matter.

He loves Aomine, but he loves Aomine in the fall, and the winter, and the spring. But especially in the summer, when it's so much easier to make up excuses to lie around naked all day, sleeping late and waking up with the knowledge that the sun won't set until nine PM, so they haven't really missed much of anything, not that there's any real alternative that's just as good as spending time together, sleeping tangled up and not going to sleep until four or five AM because they're too busy having sex and talking and spending all of their waking time, together, too.

He loves the sun, the way it stays out so late and tans Aomine's skin further, so that it's more ravaged than kissed by the sun, and okay, he's a little jealous of the sun in that way, but in the dark Aomine is all his, or maybe he's all Aomine's, or maybe it's a little bit of both, and who really cares?

He loves going to festivals, the smell of grilling meat and wearing kimonos, holding hands with Aomne and watching the fireworks and then kissing him, biting on his lip like it's cotton candy and Aomine sneaking a hand beneath the layers of fabric so he can grope Kise. The music, the sound of the crowd, leaning into the crook of Aomine's neck and feeling the rumble of his throat when he talks.

He loves the way his glass of iced coffee condenses on the outside, making it too slippery for him and it slips (or does it really? He's got a good grip, but it's all part of the routine) and spills all over him and Aomine kindly helps him take off his shirt and would get him a new one but then they start touching and kissing and neither one of them has any need for a shirt for a good long time.

He loves not having to go to school, just going over to Aomine's place or getting a text from Kasamatsu or Midorima (the latter always sending him a death wish along with his desire to meet) and hanging out with them. He loves training camp with the team, getting to know all of his teammates and their hopes and personalities (they're all pretty deep guys, or maybe he's just shallow) and learning even better how to play basketball with them, how to send and receive passes, how to double-team an ace together, and even just running sprints with his teammates is fantastic.

He loves his reduced work hours (most of the photo shoots were done in the fall and winter) and reduced practice hours (even though he really does love basketball) and reduced homework hours because it means he can spend more time doing the things he loves, playing one-on-one with Aomine, still losing every time but getting closer and closer to the once-unattainable dream, and once they're tired they collapse together, sweat mingling, pulses syncing up.

He loves tripping up on his flip flops and taking an accidental step onto the sizzling sidewalk, the shocking burning sensation and the awkward hop he has to do to regain balance. Aomine laughs at him and pushes him over, then helps him up and gives him a smoldering glare and Kise drags him to the bushes before he loses it in front of everyone.

He loves fireflies swarming in the air, their tails all secreting some kind of hormone or something (he forgets Akashi's explanation, which was totally science-y and boring) but it's all a cacophony, as they blink at different rates and at different times, all around him. The cicadas in the tree make the familiar whirring sound, which is okay as long as they don't fall on top of him, and seeing their discarded shells in the dirt is crazy but kind of cool.

He loves going to the karaoke bar late at night, celebrating someone's birthday and they're all singing along to the songs everyone knows, even if most of them can't carry a tune (Kise can; that, after all, is the nature of the Perfect Copy) and aren't paying close enough attention to get all the words right. They stop for ice cream afterwards, and Kise always gets a popsicle and so does Aomine and they linger far behind the group and let the others do as they will, forgetting them because they're having a who can eat the popsicle more erotically contest and eventually they just toss the popsicles aside and find a nice dark alley, of which there are luckily many.

He loves the way the moonlight shines off of Aomine's hair, his skin glistening with sweat or when he's just out of the shower, but more than that he loves that Aomine knows he loves it and it drives him crazy, so he does it as much as possible. It occurs to Kise that he's probably wasting water with the amount of showers he takes but the thought passes and it has to be worth it because of the way water falls from his hair and skin and on top of Kise's is just so perfect, so electric and stimulating and perfect and when Aomine captures him in a kiss he can barely move but does anyway because he has to, wants to, needs to.

He loves the way it sometimes feels like summer will never end.


End file.
